Disclaimer: I do not own Hasbro, My Little Pony or any characters, places, or events in the extended cannon, although it would be awesome if I did.
Flight From Memories Chapter Two:
The Scars We Don't See
“So,” I said, as we approached the train station. We had sat in companionable silence for most of the walk, and I decided to take the initiative and create a conversation. I had to learn about my new adopted daughter after all. By Faust, however fake she might have turned out to be, that was weird to say. “Who exactly was Hail Mary?”
Star sighed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. “He was one of the bullies that always made fun of me. He wasn’t the worst, not by a long shot, and he never started one of their bouts of teasing, but he was still one of them.” She looked at me from behind those bangs with troubled eyes. “I’m not sure if I forgive him or not.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “Star, I don’t expect you to forgive him, not yet. But remember, he is only a child, as are you. He has great potential if he can learn to act on his heart, rather than his peers. He showed that today.”
She sat in brooding silence as I came up to the ticket window. The mare behind the counter seemed oblivious to the two of us, filing her hooves. When we got to the window, I cleared my throat. The mare didn’t even look up at me. “All trains tonight are sold out, come back tomorrow.”
I scoffed, “Is it tourist season, Star? This town doesn’t seem large enough to fill the train if everypony living here got on board.”
“No, it’s not tourist season,” Star sighed, playing along, “There should be at least two open spots on the train.”
I nodded, “So by that logic, she’s just being lazy and turning away paying customers?”
“Ooh, her boss is not going to like hearing that,” Star winked at me as we started walking off.
The mare’s head shot up, eyes wide. “WAIT! I missed some seats! Where do you need to go?”
I smirked, “We need two tickets to Ponyville.”
Two hours later, Star and I were on our way to Ponyville in our own personal train car. It was at a huge discount, too. What a coincidence.
Star practically melted into the plush red seat, sighing in contentment. I chuckled from my place by the door. “Comfortable?”
“You have… no idea,” Star moaned as she rolled onto her back, sticking all four of her legs into the air.
I smiled at her antics, before frowning as dark topics started flashing across my mind. “Star,” I began, “I’m going to ask you to do something you aren’t going to like.”
Star frowned at me, spinning back upright. “You’re going to pawn me off on the first household that will take care of me, aren’t you?”
I sighed, “I don’t like it any more than you.”
“Then why are you going to do it?” she accused me.
“I have no choice. I’m going to be doing dangerous things, things I have no right bringing a filly along on.” I sighed heavily looking out the window. “I’m going to be breaking laws, Star. Not only that, but I’m going to do the most dangerous thing I have ever done.”
Star glared at me with those piercing orange eyes. “It can’t be that dangerous.”
I looked her in the eyes, however futile the gesture was, me having no discernable eyes. “Last time I did this, Star, I died.”
A look of shock swept over her face, quickly replacing the look of anger that was previously held there. “That’s more reason for me to come, dad!”
“The more reason to keep you safe in case I don’t make it. I’m sorry, my mind is made up.” I used a tone of finality, letting her know that this conversation was over with.
She didn’t much care. She’s a lot like Rainbow Dash, in that regard. “No! I’m coming with you! I don’t care what laws you’re breaking, I don’t care how dangerous it is. I have never had a family, and I’m not about to lose my dad right after I get him if there is anything I can do!”
She was panting after exploding like that, glaring daggers at me. Something she said resonated with me. I could see where she was coming from, I really could. Unfortunately for her, we were coming from the same direction. “Star, I grew up on the streets of Canterlot one thousand years ago, before it was the capital of Equestria. I never knew my parents, I don’t know if I ever had siblings, and if you were to look inside my house the day I died the first time, you would have found a ring waiting for the perfect moment.” I let out a shuddering sigh. “I never got to have parents at all, and, until now, I never got to have a child. My lover betrayed me in the worst way possible right as I was getting ready to move to the next stage of my life. Now I have the chance to actually do something worthwhile. To create something rather than to destroy it. I would rather die a thousand deaths than let you get hurt.”
Star looked up at me with tear filled eyes for a moment, before launching herself at me in a flying hug. As she buried her face into my fur, I could just barely hear her whisper, “Which is why I’m never letting you be alone again.”
We sat in silence for a couple of minutes before I finally sighed. I’d been doing that a lot, probably not a good sign. “Okay, you can come along.” I interrupted Star’s excited bouncing with a raised hoof. “There are some conditions.” She looked at me attentively. “Condition one: if I tell you to run and you don’t, I don’t care if your staying saved my life, you’re going somewhere safe.” She nodded hesitantly. “Condition two is that under no circumstances is anyone to know that Streak is alive.” She looked up at me in confusion. “My death caused all kinds of problems that are still not resolved. Until they are solved, I need to keep myself out of the equation. A generic demon, even a Voidborn, will draw less attention.”
“What about that?” Star asked, pointing to the rainbow streak cutting through my mane like a prismatic river through a desert of black sands. It was probably just as noticeable. “That is pretty noticeable.”
I paused. That was a very good question. “How good are you with illusion magic?”
“How good are you at breathing?” she smirked.
Just minutes later, I was streak-less. Star assured me that the spell was self-sustaining, and that if I really needed to end it without her, I could just eat the magic holding the spell together and unravel it. However, she did bring up another valid point. “What name are you going to be using, if Streak is off limits?”
I hummed in thought, “Demons are named by their title, since we know instinctively which demon we’re talking to. I’m thinking Premier, since that’s my title while in the Void. What do you think?”
She stuck out her tongue at me, “Kinda lame, but we don’t want a name that is so awesome it blinds nearby ponies and deafens the lame with its mere utterance, do we?”
I revise my earlier statement. A lot like Rainbow Dash in many ways. “You’re going to get along well with one of my friends, I can tell.”
“Which one? Is it Rainbow Dash? I know what the newspaper said about her, but she’s too awesome to try to kill somepony. Isn’t she?”
“I’m hoping so, because the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony need to be in harmony for the Elements to work. The world is worse off with my return if I cannot re-unify the Bearers.”
“Well how do we do that, if what the newspaper said is true?”
I stared out the window for a few seconds, noting the almost palpable silence. It seems that there are some questions that I can’t quite answer yet. After an hour, I heard Star start to snore. I looked to where she lay, and had to stifle an ‘aww’ at how adorable she looked.
She was half off of the plush seat, her cornflower blue fur meshing fairly well, somehow, with the red cushion she had taken for a bed and pillow. She was breathing lightly and regularly, her chest rising and falling in some unheard rhythm. Her breath caused her shock-white bangs to float forward with each exhale, only to return to place during her inhales like some kind of strange yo-yo. Her tail twitched in her sleep as she buried her face into the plush cushion. She started murmuring something unintelligible.
Suddenly her murmuring switched to moaning. Her tail started swinging back and forth faster and farther. Her breath sped up to the point that I was worried about hyperventilation. Her legs started twitching, at first slowly, but quickly picked up pace. I hesitantly walked over to her, having absolutely no idea what to do. Celestia had never had a nightmare, and while I know why now, that didn’t change the fact that I have absolutely no experience dealing with them.
I nudged her, softly calling out her name. Her moaning got louder, and I could make out some scattered words here and there. Nothing that sounded good. I shook her, trying to wake her before her nightmare got worse. I called her name as her words became louder and more frequent.
At this point I was panicking, I couldn’t wake her up. My mind flashed back to a time before the story I told the Bearers. During one of my first battles. To that poor filly who just wanted her mommy to wake up. I could still hear her words, to this day. “Mommy, it’s not funny anymore. Mommy, just wake up. Mister, can you wake mommy for me? She won’t wake up. Wha-no! MOMMY! NO MOMMY COME BACK!” I practically shouted Star’s name as I shook her, desperately needing her to wake up. To pull me from the past that I so desperately needed to escape as much as to pull her from her own nightmare.
Star yelled as she jolted awake. I sighed in relief and sat down as she started breathing heavily. She looked around in panic, her eyes darting quickly around the car. It reminded me too much of prey watching for a hidden predator that was just right there not two seconds ago. Her eyes widened and jumped into my chest when she saw me sitting there. I just sat there and held her for a minute, letting her sob silently.
My attention was called to the door of the car opening and one of the other passengers tentatively walked inside. “Are you okay in here?” she called out.
I smiled. It seemed that not everypony was content to just let things happen around them. I spoke quietly as to not startle this kind mare. “It was just a nightmare. She’ll be fine.”
The mare’s eyes widened for a moment when she saw me, but, surprisingly, she seemed to accept the presence of a pony seemingly made of shadow fairly quickly. “Do you want me to get you a glass of water? She’ll be thirsty.”
I nodded in thanks, and the mare took it as her cue to leave. Star sobbed again against my chest, and I hugged her tighter, shushing her. “You’ll be okay, Star. It’s over now.”
“You won’t leave me too, will you dad?” she sobbed into my chest.
I tightened my grip in a reassuring embrace. “Not ever. You’re family, Star, and only the worst kind of people abandon family when they have a choice.”
“What about those that have no choice?” she asked me with a small voice.
“They don’t abandon their family. They die trying to get them back.” I pulled her eyes to match mine. “Do you understand me, Star? There is always a choice. I’ll die before I ever leave you.”
She smiled at me with wavering eyes before burying her face back into my chest. We stayed like that until the mare came back with the promised glass of water for Star, who accepted it with a gracious ‘thank you,’ finally letting go of me.
The mare sat beside me, sighing in relaxation. I turned to her, noting that she was an earth pony. I also noticed a hint of the fragrance of flowers that seemed to settle around her. It seemed fitting, given that she looked very much like a walking flower with her pale leaf green coat and rose red mane and eyes. Not the pinkish red that everyone seems to think is rose, but the actual vibrant, almost ruby red of an actual rose. Her cutie mark was a trio of roses, and I had a feeling that her name was flowery, if you pardon the pun.
“My name is Sure Touch,” she said by way of introduction. Nevermind, not flowery. “I know this is a personal car, but I wanted someone to talk to, and the other car is filled with stuck up jerks. I hope you don’t mind me being here.”
I chuckled, “I go by Premier, and it’s fine as long as you don’t mind sharing the car with a magical parasite.”
Her eyes widened slightly, before Star ruined my fun, “Dad, don’t tease the nice mare.”
I sighed in mock surrender. “Alright. But only for you, Star.”
Star giggled, obviously feeling better. Suddenly she seemed to remember that there was someone else in the car with us and shrunk into herself. Sure Touch giggled at Star’s reaction.
“Guess she’s a bit shy.” I chuckled.
Sure looked at me like I had grown a second head, “Shouldn’t this be something you’d know as the filly’s father?”
“Adoptive father. Just picked her up today,” I corrected. “Heck, I just got onto this plane of existance today.”
“How do you adopt a daughter within a day of being in Equestria?” Sure asked me.
“She was having problems with bullies, which included the matron at the local orphanage. It got bad enough that she reached into the Void for help. I answered.” At Sure’s disbelieving look, I added, “The adoption was not exactly legal.”
She planted a hoof into her face and sighed. Thankfully, she dropped the topic. We started chatting about various things. Turns out Sure was from Ponyville, and just visiting family in Tall Tale. She had a house just outside the town borders. When I learned that, I breached an uncomfortable topic.
“Absolutely not.” I was shocked by her immediate and harsh dismissal. I figured that she would take to the idea of having Star around in a heartbeat. “She’s not even going to come with you. I don’t care what you’re doing, but if it is dangerous for a trans-dimensional being like you, you aren’t going to take a little filly along with you.” Oh.
“Hey!” Star harrumphed indignantly. “I’m twelve. And a half. I’m not little.”
Sure looked at me, “You’re taking a twelve year old along with you on something dangerous?”
I sighed, “Look, I understand your concern—”
“I’m convinced you don’t!” Sure interrupted me, quite rudely, I might add. “You’re taking a filly into danger! Do you understand how idiotic that is?”
“I can take care of myself,” Star mumbled under her breath in the corner.
“I’m allowing a filly who was able to open a portal to the Void at the age of twelve along with me,” I responded.
Her response was cut short by a shrill whistle that seemed to cut through everything. The train was arriving at the station. She gave me a look. “This is not over.”
I smirked, “Yes it is. We have things to do in Ponyville, and won’t be staying for long.”
Sure gave me a measured look before deflating with a sigh. “Fine,” she said, “I’ll take Star in if you send her. Maybe she will get some semblance of a normal life in my house.”
As she walked off, I called out, “Thank you.”
She looked back with what could have been amusement in her eyes. “You take care of yourself, Premier. And Star.”
I shook my head. Sometimes mares confused me. Other times, they baffled me. There was no inbetween.
Star looked at me, “So, where to?”
“Well, first we need a place to stay,” I mused out loud. “Then I’m going to go talk with Twilight, get an idea of what damage has been caused by Rainbow Dash.”
“I’m—” Star was interrupted by a yawn, “—coming with you.”
I shook my head, “You’re tired, and need to sleep.”
She tried to deny it, “No I’m no—” She was interrupted again by another yawn.
“Star,” I tried to put on my best ‘dad’ voice.
Star sighed, “Fine.”
Turns out that Ponyville had become a tourist destination since I was last there. Not a huge one, mind you, but they averaged about a dozen tourists a day. Besides that, however, little had changed.
Oh, sure, some new businesses popped up to pull money from the tourists. Some new shops, a hotel or two, some more stalls, and the like. I also heard there is a memorial to the Bearers of my time being built in the glade I spent so much time training in. I’m not quite sure how I felt about that.
Our first stop was one of the new hotels to buy a room for Star to stay in while I did my thing. Good thing Hail Mary supplied us as much as he did. After buying a relatively cheap room and making sure Star was actually asleep, I walked to the hospital.
At first, the nurse tried to stop me from going to Twilight’s room. It was the middle of the night, after all, and visiting hours weren’t until the afternoon. She changed her tune, however, when I made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that I was going in whether she liked it or not, and if I didn’t have directions to where I wanted to go, I would start throwing open doors. I knew I had only about ten minutes before the guard she undoubtedly is heading to alert got here.
I pushed open the door to see a lavender mare laying peacefully under the covers of her bed. I sat on the chair and cleared my throat. She stretched, groaning as it put pressure on her ribs, and picked her head up to look around the room. At first, she looked right over me. She looked around again, and again missed me. I guess it was dark, and she was tired, but still! She was blind as a bat.
“I’m here for answers, Miss Sparkle,” I said, catching her attention.
“Wh–who are you?” Twilight asked, starting to get nervous.
“They call me Premier, Miss Sparkle. I’m here to ask you some questions regarding Rainbow Dash.”
Her eyes narrowed as she searched the room for me, “I don’t see anyone, and if you’re here for her, you can just leave.”
I stood up, looking down at her as her eyes widened. She mouthed “Demon.” I nodded. “I want to know how you went from being best friends to being hated enemies in only a few weeks.”
Twilight sighed, “Honestly? It was over something stupid. A stallion, actually. We were both being stubborn, and I let jealousy color my actions.” She let out a snort. “It took me pushing her to violence to realise exactly what had happened between us. If she hadn’t tried to kill me, well, who knows? We would have probably been friends again. At least, I was willing to try. Now, however…”
“What would it take for you to forgive her?”
“I honestly don’t know anymore,” she sighed again, shaking her head. “I would love to just erase the last two years and start over, but both you and I know that’s not happening. Everything would have been perfectly fine, too, if we had found a body or a note or something. Instead, he just disappeared without a trace.”
“Who?”
“Streak. That’s who the argument was really about, no matter what we were saying. I had a crush on him, and Rainbow swooped in and nabbed him before I did." She chuckled, "It was my own fault, though. I waited too long, and she saw the opening."
"I'm to assume that you thought him dead, and she disagreed?" I asked her.
"No, I thought he had abandoned us and didn't want to be found. She thought that my acceptance that he had left was giving up on him, which I guess it was."
I winced as her casual, accepting tone. She truly thought I had abandoned them. "Thank you, Miss Sparkle. I'll let you get to your rest."
"No, Premier. thank you. You helped me work through my own feelings on this subject." She smiled at me. "I hope I see you again."
"This is not the last you shall see of me, Miss Sparkle. You might not like our other meetings as much, however" Before she could ask what I meant, i was gone.
Next stop: Ponyville Jail.